Speaking another language can be a bit scary, especially in front of thousands of expectant people. However, at the same time, Pedro Almodóvar will premiere his first feature film in English almost within the four walls of his home. Because the Venice Film Festival, which will host the world debut of Next roomhas become another home for the filmmaker. There he revealed Parallel mothers and the medium-length film The human voiceprecisely his first foray outside of Castilian. He also received, in 2019, a Golden Lion for his career. Now he hopes to add another, the one obtained by the winner of the official competition of La Mostra, which will be held from August 28 to September 7. Among his most famous rivals, announced today, Tuesday, will be Joker: Folly of Two, sequel to the film starring Joaquin Phoenix that was a hit at the Lido in 2019; Queer, the length that Luca Guadagnino always wanted and was finally able to make; or Maria, biopic by Callas, with Angelina Jolie in the role of the diva, directed by Pablo Larraín.
In 2021, Parallel mothers won the Volpi Cup for best actress for Penélope Cruz, and continued Almodóvar’s cinematic exploration of motherhood. Next room The film promises to add another chapter, through resentments, misunderstandings, pain, love and a cast with Tilda Swinton in the role of a war reporter; Julianne Moore, who plays a friend of hers; John Turturro, Juan Diego Botto, Vicky Luengo and Raúl Arévalo, among others. “The film speaks of the limitless cruelty of wars, of the very different ways in which the two writers approach and write about reality, it speaks of death, friendship and sexual pleasure as the best allies to fight against horror. And it also speaks of the sweet awakening with the trills of birds, in a house built in the middle of a nature reserve in New England,” wrote Almodóvar. The film will be released in theaters on October 18.
There will be more Spanish cinema at the Lido. In the Horizontes section, Framethe new film by the Moriarti brothers (Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi and José Mari Goenaga), aims to continue the path that gave them so much satisfaction Loreak, Handia and The endless trench. To this end, they will bring to the screen the life of Enric Marco, former general secretary of the CNT, who for years maintained the fiction that he had been imprisoned in the Flossenbürg concentration camp. His controversial figure was also the focus of the novel. The impostor, by Javier Cercas, as recalled by the artistic director of the festival, Alberto Barbera, during the presentation. He also highlighted the performance of Eduard Fernández in the feature film.
Barbera also defined Rodrigo Sorogoyen as “perhaps the most important Spanish director of the moment, after Almodóvar”. And that is why he has once again selected a work by the filmmaker. A series, in this case, and out of competition: New Years follows “the relationship between a man and a woman over the course of 10 consecutive years in the days around New Year’s Eve,” in the words of the director of La Mostra. In addition, the film Sugar Islandby the Dominican Johanné Gómez Terrero, with part of the Spanish production, will be seen in the section Giornate degli autori, and the documentary Portabella Constellationwhere Claudio Zulian analyses and pays tribute to the Catalan cult director, will be at Venezia Classici. The festival thus continues its renewed passion for Spanish cinema. It has been a feature of the various sections of the event for some time, with films such as Late for anger, Especially at night, Zumiriki, Mother, On the margins or, last year, The Snow Society.
What seems to be weakening, however, is the usual landing of big names in directing on the Lido. Normally, Venice kicks off the race for a few Oscar favourites, while Netflix usually presents its brightest jewels there. This year, however, most of the focus is on the second Joker, filmed by Todd Phillips, both because of the tremendous expectation, the secrecy and the arrival of Lady Gaga to the cast, and, in reality, because of the lack of alternatives.
Yes, acting stars like Jolie, Moore, Daniel Craig —star of Queerin a role different from their recent journey—, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, forced to investigate a crime together in Wolfby Jon Watts; Adrien Brody, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci or Cate Blanchett. But the public will hardly find among the 21 authors of the official competition some that sound familiar, beyond Almodóvar, Guadagnino and Larraín. If anything, Gianni Amelio, with Battlefieldabout the Spanish flu pandemic. It will be there, but out of competition, Beetlejuice Beetlejuicethe return of Tim Burton, in charge of opening the event. And it will also be seen again Master and Commander, chosen to close the gala, in which the Honorary Golden Lion will be awarded to Australian director Peter Weir.
Venice may have produced its least-known official competition in recent years. In exchange, some film buffs will rub their hands with glee at the return of the “very rigorous and austere” style —in Barbera’s words— of Georgian Dea Kulumbegashvili with April, After winning in San Sebastian years ago with his first film, Beginning; either with Kill the Jockey, new film by Luis Ortega, “one of the most original voices in contemporary Argentine cinema,” according to the director of La Mostra.
That is why series have a special relevance this year: they are no longer content with attending the oldest film festival in the world, but they can even dream of a overtaking in terms of visibility. They will be seen Disclaimer, by Alfonso Cuaron; M. The son of the century, by Joe Wright, based on the fictionalized biography of Mussolini written by Antonio Scurati, with Luca Marinelli in the role of the Duce; or Families Like Ours, by Thomas Vintenberg, about a Denmark flooded after a climate catastrophe.
More generally, the influence that television has had on the seventh art is evident in another aspect. Barbera said: “Many film authors are carried away by experimenting with length. We will host series with a very clear cinematic imprint, which almost seem like very long films. And we will show them in an integral way.” Thus, the duration of many Venice screenings exceeds three hours. A priori, It doesn’t have to be negative. We’ll have to see the opinion. a posteriori.
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